


A Battle and a Confession

by Willowflower_Waterlily



Series: Letting Go (Leandra Bethany Hawke, Series 2 ) [4]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-14 11:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4563093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willowflower_Waterlily/pseuds/Willowflower_Waterlily





	1. Chapter 1

Leandra thinks on the progress she’s made in the months that passed since Cole gave her the letters. Her guilt has eased some but it was always lingering. Would there ever be a day when her heart would be free of the blame she placed on herself? The ache of losing her parents isn’t as sharp as it was when she first pushed everyone out of her life. Yet, it still hurts more than any injury she ever suffered.

A sudden lack of animal noises pulls Leandra out of her thoughts. Drawing her blade, she waits for the trouble to come to her.

A scream erupts from Leandra’s throat when an arrow pierces her calf. Dropping to her knees, she braces herself before pulling the arrow out. Leandra bites her lip to keep herself from screaming again.  She quickly drinks a healing potion, standing as a small group of mercenaries approach her with their weapons in hand.

Leandra notices their armor is the same as the group that attacked her and Will as she fights them. None of them are trying to kill her, but are trying to do damage instead. Gritting her teeth to keep from shouting when an attack lands, she tightens her grip on her sword to keep from dropping it.

When the last of the mercenary dies, a heavily armored warrior with a bow in hand steps out from behind a tree. He grins at her maliciously as he pulls the string back, letting another arrow loose. Leandra screams when the arrow hits her thigh.

“As much fun as it would be to make you unable to fight, I want more of challenge.” The warrior drops his bow, and unsheathes his sword.

“If you wanted more of a challenge, you should have attacked me first. Instead you sent out your lackeys to injure me.” Locking her legs, Leandra tries to ignore the pain, letting adrenaline take over. She has to make it through this, she has to live. Leandra needs to atone for hurting her siblings, for all the years she ignored them. She needs to live for her parents, for Mia and her boys. It can’t end like this.

The warrior charges Leandra, swinging his sword. She’s only just able to block his attack, feeling the hilt of her sword vibrate in her hands. She pushes him away from her, blocking more of his attacks, but unable to land any of her own.

“There are more of us, looking for your mage. We’ll find him, and cut him down like the monster he is.” He laughs at the rage that crosses Leandra’s face. “It’s only a matter of time now.”

“You won’t touch him.” Leandra begins to attack more fiercely, throwing the warrior off balance. She has live. She needs to get back to Will. Leandra is determined protect him with her own hands. Only over her dead body will these people or anyone else ever harm him. Will is her love, her heart and she is resolved to keep him safe. Leandra gasps, ducking out of the way of the warrior's sword. Will is her love? When? Leandra shakes her head, trying to focus on the fight. There will be time to think about her feelings later, if she survives the fight.

The warrior kicks Leandra to the ground, and stabs her offhand. Leandra bites her lip so hard it starts bleeding in her determination to not show more pain than she has to. He leans in, grabbing the collar of her shirt to bring her in close. “Don’t you want to know why we’re attacking you?”

“I couldn’t care less.” Leandra spits in his face, reaching for one of her throwing daggers. When he lets go of her to wipe his eyes, she stabs him in the throat.

Slowly standing up, Leandra ignores her attacker as he drowns on his own blood. She sheathes her blade, running as fast as she can back to the cabin. Pain surges throw her with each footfall, every wound making itself known, but it doesn’t matter. Leandra needs to make sure Will is safe.

 

Will paces the length of the cabin, unsure if he should go out to look for Leandra. It’s long since passed the time when she’s normally back from hunting. Is she okay? Did she simply lose track of time or did something happen to her? What if she ran into trouble? What if she’s injured, or worse? An image of her laying on the ground in the woods, bleeding to death locks itself in Will’s mind.

The door flies open, making Will jump. His mouth drops when his eyes land on Leandra. An arrow is protruding from one of her thighs and she’s covered in blood. Leandra closes the distance between them, looking Will over when she gets to him.

“You’re safe,” she whispers before collapsing into his arms. Holding Leandra, Will carefully lays her down on the pallet. He slowly pulls the arrow out of her leg, and casts a healing spell to make sure she’s stabilized before taking her clothing off to inspect the damage.

His heart stops when he sees all the cuts and bruises covering her body. “Oh, Leandra,” Will breathes, casting another spell to heal her many wounds.

Laying down beside Leandra, Will touches her cheek with the tips of his fingers, and a smile lights up her face as she sleeps, filling his heart with warmth. Worn out from having used most of his mana, Will quickly falls asleep, hoping he’ll wake up when Leandra does.

 

Waking up, Leandra feels Will sleeping beside her. She slowly gets up, still sore from the night before. Leandra gets dressed as quickly as her aching body will let her, and collects her bow and a quiver full of arrows. If that group was as close as it was to the cabin, there could be more that are even closer. She’ll need to find them first, and eliminate the threat they pose. Leandra takes one last look at Will before slipping out of the cabin.

 

Will returns to pacing, having woken up alone. He tries to avoid looking at the pallet as he passes it, blood stains marking where Leandra was laying the night before. What if's race through his mind in rapid succession. She was attacked last night, what if she runs into more? She’s still injured. What if it’s too much and she’s collapsed somewhere? What if she needs him? What if she’s already dead? Will stops mid step, a lump forming in his throat. Fighting back tears, he tries to force the what if’s out of his head, fearing for his sanity if he lets worse case scenarios completely take over his thoughts.

The door quietly opens, and Leandra steps in with her bow in hand and an empty quiver on her back. Will looks her over before pulling her into a hug. “Why did you leave? Where did you go?”

Leandra pulls away from his embrace, looking away for a moment. When she meets his gaze again, Leandra tells him what happened the night before and where she had gone that morning. “There were more of them. I needed to take them out.”

Will stares at Leandra, his mouth agape. The worry he felt waiting for her boils into anger. How could she be so careless? He turns to collect himself, to calm down but finds himself spinning on his heals to face her again.

“Leandra Bethany Hawke,” Will growls, his expression hardened. Wincing at his tone and use of her full name, Leandra stares down at her feet in shame. “What the void were you thinking? You’re still injured. You shouldn’t have gotten up, let alone leave the cabin. I thought you were making progress. Do you still care so little for yourself that you would throw yourself into danger?”

“I did it to protect you.” Leandra looks up, meeting his gaze, tears shining in her eyes.

Will opens and closes his mouth, trying to find the right words to convey the storm of emotions ripping through his heart and soul. When he can’t, Will pulls Leandra close to him, kissing her hard, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Will whispers, crying. Why did he do that? Damn him to the Void. It wasn’t how he wanted their first kiss to happen. He spoiled their first kiss by not thinking. They had been getting closer, but what if she doesn’t feel that way about him? Did he just ruin their friendship? If she does have feelings for him, did he screw it up?

Leandra cups his face in her hands, wiping his tears away. Leaning into Will, she gently kisses him. Their hands explore each other’s bodies, fingertips lightly caressing each curve as they deepen their kiss. Leandra’s heart races, the hairs on her body standing on end. When Will’s hands touch her skin, they leave a trail of goosebumps in their wake. Breaking their kiss, they stare at each other, wide eyed and panting.

“I love you.” Leandra’s eyes widen further, realizing she said her thoughts out loud. Will’s whole face lights up at her words, his heart and soul shining through his smile. Leandra’s heart pounds in her chest, her breath catching as she realizes that Will is the most beautiful man she’s ever known.

 “I love you too.”  Will embraces her delicately, trying to avoid her healing injuries. “Promise me you’ll rest, love. Let me take care of you.”

“I promise.” Leandra kisses his cheek, before he guides her back to the pallet. Laying down, they curl up together and fall asleep in each other’s arms.


	2. Chapter 2

Evelyn/Malcolm reincarnation series  
http://archiveofourown.org/series/311100


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